


The Beginning of Forever

by AbschaumNo1



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Accidental Marriage, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Corey Crawford is essentially the ship cat, Getting Together, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-07 15:17:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16410950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbschaumNo1/pseuds/AbschaumNo1
Summary: Andrew Shaw moves in with Brent Seabrook, falls in love, and accidentally marries him. Not in that order.Brent Seabrook has a bunch of idiot friends, a husband he married accidentally, and three kids to worry about. Or maybe things are easier than he thinks.Either way they're stuck together, so they better make it work.





	The Beginning of Forever

**Author's Note:**

> A while ago I was talking to V about how we need more fics with accidental marriages. One thing lead to another and here we are.  
> Thanks go out to A and I for the beta work.  
> Any spelling mistakes that are still in there I firmly blame on my broken laptop and my phone's autocorrect.

_**Polia** _   
_Small planet at the outskirts of the habitable zone of the Lettonian system. Covered in woods. Inhabited by humanoids._   
_[...]_   
_Society sees marriage as a serious commitment to each other and couples will only marry if there is absolutely no doubt that the spouses will remain married until the end of both partners’ lives._

\- _Chicago_ Information Package for the Ground Team

  
Andrew was still nursing a hangover when they returned to the Chicago after their visit to Polia. Things had gone reasonably well, especially considering their knack for finding trouble. No, instead there had been a feast in their honour, with lots of alcohol and some weird ceremony involving him and Seabs and some equally weird nuts. They had traded a little with the Polians, exchanged news from around the Republic, and had left. And even with his hangover Andrew was feeling reasonably good about himself.  
“Alright everyone,” Jonny said as soon as they got off the shuttle. “You’re lucky their day cycle is somehow contrary to ours, so you all get to go to bed right now. Sleep off what you gotta sleep off and report to your stations in the morning.”  
“Aye, aye Captain,” Andrew replied throwing a lazy salute Jonny’s way. He was more than happy to crawl into his bunk and sleep about ten more hours before he had to go back to work.  
“Great, Shawzy and Seabs can have a proper wedding night then,” Duncs slurred sleepily from somewhere behind Andrew. Andrew turned around and exchanged a confused look with Seabs, who just shrugged and gently steered Duncs towards their quarters.  
“I think I’m going to get you into bed,” he said. “And then I’ll go see what the kids left standing of my quarters.”  
Duncs sighed, but he said, “Yeah okay, it’s not like you can’t wait with that.”  
Seabs waved at all of them as he and Duncs disappeared around a corner. Andrew watched them and shook his head slowly, before he headed to his own quarters. He could still figure out what Duncs had meant after getting some sleep.

~*~

It was three weeks after the Polia trip when Duncs wandered into the mess, put his tray down next to Brent’s and said, “So there’s something you and Shawzy gotta explain to me.”  
Brent exchanged a confused look with Shawzy, but before he could even try to ask Duncs to clarify, his best friend already went on.  
“How is Shawzy still bunking with Saader?”  
“Why would I not be bunking with Saader?” Shawzy asked slowly. “Last time I checked the rooming assignments were still the same.”  
Duncs looked between them. “You realise that fleet regulations state that you’re entitled to room together if you’re married, right?”  
“We’re not married though.” Shawzy quickly shot a look at Brent. “Or did I miss something?”  
Brent shook his head. “Not that I know of.”  
“You guys got married three weeks ago?”  
“I am fairly sure I would know if I had married Seabs?”  
“Wait,” Brent said suddenly. “Three weeks you say? The Polia trip? That was a wedding?”  
“Yes, I told you that three weeks ago. Don’t you remember?” This time it was Duncs who was confused.  
Brent exchanged a quick look with Shawzy, who seemed like this was as much news to him as it was to Brent himself.  
“Duncs,” Brent said finally. “You were drunk. We didn’t think you were being serious.”  
“I am completely serious.”  
Shawzy appeared a little queasy, and Brent couldn’t really fault him. It wasn’t every day that you found out you had accidentally married someone. He glanced over at Jonny, silently asking for his help.  
Jonny shrugged. “I don’t think there’s much we can do about it. Maybe if we pass Polia again, but until then...”  
“Do none of you read the information packages I give to you?” Duncs said, rolling his eyes. “There is no way out of this. Polian marriages are for life. They don’t accept divorce or annulment. That’s why it’s so rare for them to take vows. You only marry when you’re absolutely sure you’re going to spend the rest of your lives together. And the Republic recognises that.”  
“Well shit.” Shawzy took a deep breath, before he turned towards Brent. “Listen, I won’t tell if you won’t tell. We can just pretend this never happened and go on living our lives.”  
“Actually that’s not going to work,” Kaner said, swallowing down a bite of his meal. “I already updated your files and the ship’s log.”  
“You did what?” Jonny scowled a little. “Why?”  
Kaner shrugged. “Duncs said it was binding and I actually read the info packages. And since it’s important to keep everything in order I updated their files.”  
“Okay but then why didn’t you change their rooming assignments?” Jonny asked.  
“I figured they needed a little time to figure things out and that they’d come to me when they’re ready.”  
Shawzy buried his head in his hands and sighed heavily. “Dude, I’m sorry,” he said to Brent when he looked up again.  
Brent shrugged. It wasn’t like there was anything they could do about it. Besides, neither of them had read the info package, they were very much both in the same boat here. “I guess you should just move your shit in with me and the kids and we’ll call it a day.”  
Shawzy blinked. “Are you sure?”  
“I mean, it's probably easier to figure things out this way.” Brent shrugged again. And it wasn't like they really had to do this, they could always just explain the whole situation when it came up, but he couldn't help but wonder what could come of it if they allowed themselves to figure things out properly.  
“I… yeah okay.” Shawzy still sounded a little hesitant, but even as he spoke his voice took on a more resolved tone.  
“Just come by tomorrow evening and we can get you settled in.”  
“And the kids?”   
Brent rolled his eyes. “Last time I checked they loved you. They’ll be fine.”  
“Okay, cool. I guess I’ll bring my stuff over tomorrow.”  
“Good,” Brent said resolutely, before he launched into a story about his kids, distracting everyone.

It wasn’t until later that he started doubting his decision a little. He walked into his living room and looked around and couldn’t help but think ‘How can I subject anyone to this?’  
The living room looked a little like a bomb had exploded. Brent was positive that this wasn’t how he had left his living room behind when he had gone to work this morning.  
Liz, the young educator of the Chicago, who spent most of her time minding Brent’s kids when he worked, looked up from where she was helping Dylan put her toys away.  
“I’m sorry, Brent,” she said. “They were supposed to be done tidying up by now.”  
Brent sighed, but waved her words aside. “It’s fine. I’ll handle it.”  
“Are you sure?” Because I can finish this so you can relax.”  
Brent smiled. “I’m sure. Just go enjoy your evening. I can handle these hellions on my own.”  
Liz got up with a grateful smile. “Thanks, Brent. I’ll be back at the usual time tomorrow then.”  
“Yeah, see you then.”  
“Good night.” She waved and then the door closed behind her with a hiss. Brent sat down with Dylan, listening to Carter and Kenzie bicker in a corner without even looking up to say hello to him. He smiled to himself.  
When everything was tidy again and Brent had gotten everyone to sit down around the table for dinner, he finally got his chance to tell the kids about Shawzy.  
“What would you say if I told you that your uncle Shawzy came to live with us?” he asked.  
Carter’s eyes grew big. “Really? Uncle Shawzy’s great!” he said, Kenzie nodding along next to him.  
Brent chuckled. “He’s gonna come over with his things tomorrow evening.” If he had hoped for any coherent conversation around the dinner table after that announcement, he would have been sorely disappointed when Carter and Kenzie started talking over each other in their excitement.

“‘S Shawzy gonna need my bed? Where will I sleep?” Carter asked when Brent put the kids to bed, and Brent froze.  
“No! No, he’s not. I told you this is your room and that’s not gonna change, even when Shawzy moves in. And he can’t move into Dylan and Kenzie’s room either, because there’s not enough space.”  
Carter scrunched up his face. “So he’s gonna stay with you?”  
“Well, I guess he’ll have to.” Brent smiled. “You should sleep now. I promise it’s going to be fine.”  
“‘S good,” Carter mumbled and then he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Brent stopped in the door to his own bedroom with a sigh. If Shawzy was going to move in tomorrow he would have to take care of a bunch of things first. With another sigh and a longing look towards his bed, Brent got to work.

~*~

The nerves didn’t really hit Andrew until he stood in front of the door to Seabs’ quarters. He had been here countless times, they were friends after all. And hell, he liked Seabs and he liked his kids, there was nothing to be nervous about. It would be fine, just like Seabs had said. He took a deep breath and pressed the panel to ask for entrance  
Seabs stood inside when the door opened, Dylan on his arm, and smiled at Andrew. Dylan babbled and grinned at him. But before he could say anything Carter barrelled into his legs.  
“Uncle Shawzy! You’re really here!” Carter crowed, grinning up at Andrew with his arms wrapped around his leg.  
Seabs laughed. “I told you he would be here.”  
Andrew looked down and smiled at Carter. He put a hand on the back of Carter’s head in a gentle gesture. “Of course I’m here. How would I be moving in with you if I wasn’t?”  
Carter nodded earnestly and let go of Andrew’s leg to grab his hand. “Come,” he said and pulled Andrew deeper into the living room.  
Kenzie appeared on his other side while Carter started giving him the tour and asked to be picked up, so by the time they reached the last bedroom, the one he would be sharing with Seabs, Carter announced, there was a happily talking Kenzie on his arm and the bag with his stuff was mostly forgotten in the middle of the living room.  
Seabs shot him an apologetic smile when Carter said, “But there is only one bed so you have to share.”  
“I guess we’ll have to,” Andrew said easily, and returned Seabs’ smile with a shrug. It was what it was. Besides, it wasn’t like Andrew hadn’t known that it would likely be like this when he agreed to this. It was just sleeping, it would be fine.  
Carter insisted on helping Andrew put away his things and made him promise to read him a good night story later. In fact, Carter kept him so occupied until bedtime that Andrew didn’t even have a minute to process all of this. If he was completely honest though, he already loved the chaos that would come with living here. He had grown up with two brothers, and as much as he had loved bunking with Saader, he missed the pure chaos and energy that came with living in a household with kids.  
By the time he and Seabs got to go to bed that evening, Andrew was ready to fall asleep on his feet.

“Hey, I just wanted to say I’m sorry about the whole sleeping situation,“ Seabs said when they were about to enter the bedroom.  
Andrew shrugged. “It’s not like I didn’t know about the layout of your apartment before.”  
“You know I could always just sleep on the couch,” Seabs said.  
“I’m not stealing your bed from you. I’m not gonna be the one who puts our senior medical officer onto the couch. If anyone sleeps on the couch it should be me. I’m just some engineer.” Andrew pointedly raised an eyebrow.  
Seabs laughed. “Just some engineer, eh? Just some engineer who keeps the whole engineering department running on his own.”  
“Contrary to popular belief engineering runs itself pretty well. Crow really only needs me to sort out shifts and step in when there’s problems while he’s away.”  
“Okay so how about no one sleeps on the couch and we just try not to kill each other in our sleep?” Seabs conceded finally.  
Andrew grinned. “Sounds like a deal.”  
Seabs grinned back. “Good.” He grabbed his sleepwear off a chair in the corner. “I’ll be right back.”

~*~

If he was completely honest Brent had been more nervous about sleeping in a bed with Shawzy than about Shawzy being overwhelmed with the kids. Shawzy knew the kids, and besides, he wrangled the entire engineering department on a daily basis. Brent had had no doubt whatsoever that Shawzy would be able to handle the kids.  
But sleeping in the same bed was a whole different beast. They were friends, but they had never been the kind of friends who fell asleep in each other’s beds. Hell, the last friend Brent had shared a bed with had been Duncs back at the academy, after a long night of partying. And since he and Dayna had split up right before she left on a military assignment, Brent hadn’t really shared his bed with anyone save the kids maybe. He wasn’t quite sure how to feel about having Shawzy in his bed now.  
But then the first night went without a hitch, and Brent relaxed a little. They could do this.

Brent was a little surprised at how well Shawzy integrated himself into their family. He deferred to Seabs on everything concerning raising the kids, and he could be counted on to help out with wrangling everyone in the mornings and evenings. If their shifts didn’t align and he could be up while the kids were awake, he made sure to spend time with them. All in all, he really pulled his weight and got involved as much as he could.  
He got along with Liz, too, who was glad to have more time to work on her lesson plans for the approaching start of the educational program for the couple of children they had on the Chicago. It wasn’t the most pressing concern, since there were pretty much only Carter and Madelyn Sharp who were old enough to start school soon, and Liz had always insisted that it was fine. But Brent felt better knowing that she didn’t just mind his kids all day.  
And well, then there were things between Shawzy and Brent himself. They grew closer thanks to living together. Brent had always liked Shawzy. As annoying as he could be if he didn’t have an outlet for his surplus of energy, he was a likeable guy, energetic, always up to something, but also loyal and loving. He was enthusiastic about his work, but really he was passionate about everything he loved. He put as much fervor into his friendships as into the work he did in engineering.  
Brent had asked Crow once why he had handed over so much of the everyday business of engineering to Shawzy.  
“He’s better suited to it,” Crow had said with a shrug. “He knows at least as much about this ship as I do, maybe even more, and he loves her with every fiber of his heart. Really they should just make him head of engineering.”  
Brent hadn’t really understood it until he started living with Shawzy. He had completely rewired most of the apartment already, claiming that he had been annoyed with the wiring since he had seen the plans for the Chicago the first time. And even when he wasn't tinkering with something, he spent a lot of his free time mulling over engineering problems. And really, the only reason why Brent didn't stop him more often and forced him to relax was that he didn't really have a leg to stand on, because he mulled over medical data at home more often than not.  
Another thing Brent discovered was how much Shawzy actually got injured. Like a lot of engineering he was pretty much a regular in the med bay already, coming in with anything from bruises to second degree burns. But what Brent had never realised was how many injuries Shawzy didn't deem bad enough to warrant a trip to medical. Luckily Brent caught on quickly after Shawzy moved in with them and made sure to stock up the first aid kit. And after enough stern lectures from Brent Shawzy now made sure to come see him as soon as something happened. The only side effect of the whole thing was that the rest of engineering followed his example, which meant an influx of work for Brent and the others.

“How the hell did you burn yourself for the second time this week?” Brent asked Shawzy a few weeks into their arrangement. He was scanning a burn, just a few inches above the last one on his right arm.  
“There’s a water line in the cooling system that doesn't run smoothly, and there was still steam inside when we opened it.” He winced when Brent applied cooling spray.  
“And you didn't think to wait a little longer after the same thing had just happened?” Brent asked, one eyebrow raised.  
Shawzy shrugged. “We did. But our calculations were wrong, I guess.”  
Brent sighed heavily, but he didn't comment further as he fixed up the burn and told Shawzy to be careful with it.  
“I’'ll make sure not to hurt myself again today,” he promised as he hopped off the gurney. “By the way what do you want for dinner?”  
Brent raised an eyebrow. “You’re not cooking with that. I'm handling dinner until I'm sure you won't accidentally burn yourself again.”  
Shawzy opened his mouth to protest, but Brent gave him a stern look and he just said, “Okay okay. I'll see you later then.”  
“Try to make it to dinner alive,” Brent said and Shawzy threw him a sloppy salute before he turned and left while Brent watched him, shaking his head.  
He caught the eye of Tyler, one of the doctors working under him, as he finally turned away, and asked, “What?”  
Tyler shook his head. “Nothing,” he said quickly. “I was just… thinking about stuff.”  
“Anything you want to share?”  
“No,” Tyler said, “it's not important.”  
He busied himself with sorting through their medicine cabinet again and Brent let it drop. But it wasn't the last time he caught Tyler watching him and Shawzy curiously.

~*~

Andrew usually tried everything in his power to be home before dinner, but sometimes important things needed to be finished and he didn't quite make it. It wasn't like Seabs had set a specific dinner time or anything, it was more that Andrew wanted to set a good example for the kids.  
But some things couldn't be helped and so all that was left to him was to say, “I'm sorry I'm late. I had to find Crow so he could sign off on something for me” when he was late enough that everyone was already eating.  
Seabs eyed him curiously, but Andrew only threw him a smile and said, “I'll be right with you, I just really need to wash up first.”  
He disappeared into the bathroom and made sure to scrub at least the visible dirt off his skin before he went and sat down at the dinner table.  
“What was so important that you needed Crow to sign off on it?” Brent asked.  
“Oh it wasn't that important. Just turns out that even with Crow assigning most of the everyday stuff to me, there's some stuff only he can decide.”  
“You realise I put a tracker on him, do you?”  
“Yeah, but he scrambles that thing. It only sends out enough information to keep you guys updated. I had to wait for the next ping and then I still had to get to his last known location and find him from there.”  
Seabs groaned. “I should probably be glad that he allows us that much information.”  
Andrew shrugged. “It's Crow. He's weird even by engineering standards. It's a good sign he lets you have anything.”  
“Yeah well, I told him I'd ban him from working and put him in the brig if he didn't let me track him. He cussed me out, but he accepted the tracker.”  
Andrew reached around Carter to pat Seabs' shoulder. “You're doing your best, really. It's just Crow.”  
“I know.” Seabs smiled warmly, and Andrew turned to Carter to ask him about his day. He still thought about that smile when he fell asleep that night.

They were all sitting at lunch the next day when Kaner said “Oh by the way, Crow left that proposal of yours on my desk last night. There was a note to tell you that you’re dumb as well, so consider the message passed on.”  
“Thanks,” Andrew said, before he raised his head and shouted towards the ceiling, “For the record, you're the dumb one Crow.”  
“Is he around here somewhere?” Sharpy asked.  
“Not that I know of,” Andrew said with a shrug. “I just have this hope that he'll hear me one day.”  
“Are you sure that’s healthy?” Sharpy raised an eyebrow.  
Andrew rolled his eyes. “It's perfectly healthy. It's not like I'm talking to imaginary people or anything.”  
“Unless we're all suffering from a collective hallucination.”  
Across from Andrew it was Seabs' turn to roll his eyes. “Highly unlikely,” he said. “We all passed psych evals.”  
“Yeah but what if it started after those?”  
“I could always punch you in the face,” a voice suggested and Crow sat down at their table with a tray of food. “What?” He asked when they all just stared at him. “It would shut him up and he would know that I'm very real.” He thought for a moment. “Though I could also just turn off gravity in his quarters.”  
“Abby would kill you,” Kaner said, recovering from his shock.  
“Turn off his console on the bridge then?”  
“That's central to ship communications. Too risky,” Andrew said. “You could however switch the signals with Rizzo's console, and you should be fine.”  
“Good one.” Crow gave him a fistbump. “I knew there was a reason I liked you.”  
“You mean apart from the fact that I'm the most qualified engineer after you and you’d have to deal with all that boring stuff it takes to actually run the place.”  
“Ah yeah, there was that, too.” Crow shrugged. “Anyways, I was in the area and thought I'd drop in to remind you guys that I exist. Since Shawzy here reminded me yesterday that I haven't been around in a while.”  
Andrew snorted, but Crow only threw him a look and asked, “So what did I miss?”  
“Seabs and Shawzy got married by accident, and now they're stuck with each other forever,” Sharpy said.  
“So I guess that's why you moved in with him.”  
“Yeah, might as well get used to each other,” Andrew said with a shrug. Crow raised an eyebrow, but Andrew just held his gaze and he shrugged as he turned back to his food.  
“Congratulations I guess.”  
“Thanks,” Seabs said easily. “We haven't killed each other yet, so I guess it's a success so far.”  
Andrew raised his water glass. “Here's to not killing each other for a while longer.” They shared a grin. They could do that much.

  
With Crow giving his okay on Andrew’s plan there was only one thing left to do, and that was telling Seabs about what it actually was. They were sitting on opposite ends of the couch that evening, facing each other. The kids were already fast asleep, and Seabs had pulled up some medical journal on his reader, ready to spend the rest of his evening reading.  
“Hey,” Andrew said, tapping his foot with his own.  
Seabs looked up with a smile and said, “Yeah?”  
“So Abby and I talked to Liz. Since, you know, Maddy and Carter start school soon. And we thought it might be a good idea to split taking care of the smaller ones while Liz teaches the other two, between Abby and me.”  
Seabs watched him for a moment before he asked, “Just you and Abby?”  
“Yeah it’s easiest.” Andrew shrugged. “Sharpy's out because that would mean changing shift plans for the bridge. And I thought it would be easier if we only had to adjust one shift plan. So it boils down to Abby and me since we're both in engineering.”  
“Okay,” Seabs said. “Then what's the plan?”  
“I shifted things around so Abby and I take turns working a shift that leaves us free in the mornings while Carter and Maddy get to learn. We start working after lunch, take a break for dinner with the family and work the rest of our shift.”  
“You really thought about this haven't you?” Seabs looked a little surprised.  
“Yeah well, I knew you were worrying about it so I wanted to help you out.”  
Seabs smiled. “Thank you. It helps a lot.”  
“Don't mention it. We're stuck with each other. The least I can do is help with stuff like this.”  
“No, you're really great with the kids. I know it's not always easy for them without their mom, but you've really stepped up.”  
Andrew swallowed. There was a lot to unpack in that. But one problem at a time, he decided. He smiled at Seabs. “Listen, you're doing amazing. Anyone can see that. The kids absolutely adore you. And really, you're giving them all you can. So don't put yourself down, because you really have no reason to.” He put as much conviction into his words as he could, because he just needed Seabs to know that there was nothing to doubt about his parenting skills; that Andrew believed in him, and that Andrew would always be there to remind him if he needed it.  
Andrew watched the movement of Seabs’ throat as he swallowed before he smiled, soft if a little wonkily.  
“I...Thank you. It means a lot to hear it from you.”  
Andrew gave him a warm smile and said, “Anytime. I mean it.”

~*~

The next day at lunch Brent caught himself watching Shawzy where he was sitting at the other end of the mess, deep in conversation with some of his engineers. He couldn't help but think back to the evening before and how readily Shawzy had organised to mind the kids with Abby. Brent really hadn't expected him to do that, and he had felt something lift off his chest when Shawzy had presented their plan. The bit after…Shawzy had looked so fierce and determined to make Brent believe in himself when he had said those things, and Brent still wasn't quite sure what to feel about that. It felt good to know that Shawzy thought that about him, and that look on his face? Well it had really been something. Brent didn't think he had ever seen that much conviction in one person, but it was beautiful to watch.  
“Seabs are you even listening?” Sharpy’s voice jerked him out of his thoughts.  
“Sorry,” he said. “What were you saying?”  
“Doesn't matter. You've been staring at Shawzy for like five minutes now. Anything you want to tell us there?”  
“There's nothing to tell. I was just thinking.” Brent knew he was sounding too defensive, but it couldn't be helped. He probably deserved the disbelieving look on Sharpy’s face as well.  
“So did you know Abby and Shawzy have been talking?” Brent asked, trying to distract Sharpy.  
“About changing their shifts when Maddy and Carter start school? Yeah, Abby talked to me about that weeks ago. Did he finally spill the beans?”  
“Yeah he told me last night.”  
“It's a good idea. And they've got this between the two of them.”  
“Yeah.” Brent’s eyes wandered back to Shawzy and this time he caught his eyes, and Shawzy threw him an easy grin that he returned. He was sure he could see Sharpy mouth “helpless” at Duncs when he turned back towards them, but he chose to ignore them.

When Liz contacted them because Carter had run off when she had been occupied with Dylan, and Shawzy quickly replied with “On it”, Brent did not expect him to show at the med bay with a crying Carter in his arms. He tried putting him down but Carter refused to let go.  
“Sit down and let him sit on your lap,” Brent told him with a sigh, and Shawzy just nodded and did as he was told.  
“He came down to engineering and banged up his knee,” Shawzy explained.  
Carter had hidden his face in Shawzy's uniform and one of Shawzy's hands lay protectively on the back of his head, but he leaned down and whispered in his ear and Carter turned enough for Brent to be able to get a good look at his knee.  
Brent was quick about cleaning it and putting a band aid on it, and by the time he was finished Carter had calmed down enough that Brent didn't feel too bad about berating him.  
“What did we say about running off on your own?” he asked with a stern look.  
“We said not to.” Carter's voice was small. “But Shawzy said I could visit.”  
Brent threw Shawzy a look, but he shook his head.  
“I said that maybe I could show you around at some point. If your dad agreed. It’s dangerous and we need to make sure that you’re safe.”  
Brent sighed. “Really Carter, you know better than this.”  
Carter nodded, his lower lip trembling a little. “I'm sorry,” he said.  
“Okay,” Brent said. “Now can you go to Tyler over there? I need to talk to Shawzy for a second.”  
Carter nodded and let Shawzy put him down before he ran over to Tyler and started pestering him with questions.  
“Listen,” Shawzy said. “I'm sorry for telling him that. I knew he'd try to sneak down sooner or later, I hoped he wouldn't if I said I'd show him around at some point.”  
He looked guilty and Brent reached out to squeeze his shoulder, a smile on his lips. “It's fine. I should have expected it sooner or later. He's a kid, he's bound to get into trouble. As long as it's just a scraped knee here or there there's nothing to worry about.”  
Shawzy relaxed a little. “I guess I'll take him back to Liz and try to childproof engineering enough to show him around soon.”  
“It's probably for the best,” Brent agreed with a laugh.  
Shawzy got up. “We’ll better get going before the Gallys blow up anything important.”  
“Try not to hurt yourself before dinner.”  
Shawzy laughed. “I'll do my best,” he said as he hopped off the gurney and saved Tyler from any more questioning.

When Duncs picked him up for lunch the next day Brent knew something was up.  
“Why are you picking me up?” He asked as they walked towards the elevator.  
“Because Sikura told me that you were fine with Shawzy looking for Carter yesterday and that you were completely fine with him promising Carter to show him round engineering.  
“Why wouldn’t I be fine with that?”  
Duncs looked unimpressed. “Because we're talking about your kid here and if you're gonna try and tell me that this is normal then I'm fairly sure you're bullshitting me.”  
Brent shrugged. “He's doing great with the kids, and I don't know what Tyler told you, but Carter just scraped his knee a little. He's a kid, it happens. And Shawzy’s right, Carter would have tried to sneak down eventually. It makes sense to show him around first and make sure nothing happens.”  
Duncs sighed. “Just think about it, Seabs. And maybe ask yourself if it really would be that bad if there was more to it.”  
They had reached the elevator by then, so Brent didn't have to reply, and Duncs didn't press the issue. But when they sat down for lunch with the others and Shawzy greeted him with a bright grin, Brent quietly thought to himself that maybe his best friend was onto something.

~*~

When Kaner asked Andrew to come to his office that wasn't all that unusual. As First Officer Kaner did a whole lot of administrative work and since Andrew pretty much was acting head of engineering, he was in Kaner's office pretty regularly. So he didn't suspect anything unusual until he entered and saw Sharpy sitting in a chair.  
“What's up?” Andrew asked wearily  
Kaner waved him over to sit in the other chair in front of his desk. “Sit down,” he said, putting down whatever it was he was working on. “We need to talk about Seabs.”  
Andrew couldn't help the quick stab of worry at the words, but he ignored it and said, “What about Seabs?”  
“Well we couldn't help but notice how close you two have grown.”  
“We live together, of course we're close.” Andrew raised an eyebrow.  
“What Peeks here is getting at, is how you seem to go above and beyond what mere cohabitation would imply,” Sharpy said.  
Andrew blinked. “What do you mean?”  
“You worked out an entire new shift plan with Abby so you could take care of the kids,” Kaner said, one eyebrow raised. “I get that you like kids, but isn't that a bit much?”  
“It was the easiest solution.”  
“Really? Finding Crow so he could approve that was the easiest solution?”  
“I contest that,” Crow said from above them. And Andrew was sure that there hadn't been an open ceiling panel when he walked in, but there it was, with Crow's head peaking out. “It's not that hard to find me.”  
“That panel should not open,” Andrew said, pointing at him. “What did you do to the ship?”  
“Just tweaked a thing or two. What are we talking about?”  
“Seabs and Shawzy,” Sharpy said, only betraying his surprise by the fact that he was only just easing back into lounging on his chair.  
“Ah that. Tell me Shawzy, is it normal to rewire a suite you just moved into?”  
“I have to live there, too.”  
“You never rewired the room you shared with Saader.”  
“Okay so maybe that was a bit unusual,” Andrew admitted.  
“Listen, what we’re trying to tell you, is that Peeks and the Captain already use up all the dense we have on this ship. So you can't have any.”  
“He's right,” Duncs said from a corner where Andrew hadn't even seen him. “You need to get your shit together.”  
“I-” Andrew started but he was cut off by a crash and a sudden movement of the ship that left all of them sprawling on the ground.  
“Everyone okay?” Kaner asked as soon as they had recovered and the red alert flashed.  
There was a round of affirmatives and then Gally's voice came over Andrew’s comm link. “Shawzy we need you down here.”  
“I'm on my way,” Andrew replied quickly, while Kaner and Sharpy scrambled to get towards the bridge.  
He jumped up on a chair and called out to Crow to give him a lift up and disappeared into the ceiling. It was the fastest way right now.

Engineering was chaotic when they arrived, and Andrew immediately rushed over to the central console to get a report on the ship's status.  
“We were supposed to be far away from any debris so we ran a shield test,” Chucky explained. “But apparently there was a small asteroid that didn't appear on the scanners and it crashed right into us.”  
“How big's the damage?”  
“No hull breaches, but decks twenty through fourty on port side seem pretty badly damaged.”  
“That's a problem,” Crow said, leaning over Andrew’s shoulder. “Aren't yours and Seabs’ quarters on that side of deck twenty-five?”  
“Fuck, you're right.” Andrew’s eyes scanned the damaged area on the display in front of him and sure enough there were three life signs in their apartment.  
He let out another curse and tore away from the console.  
“I need you to take over,” he called to Crow over his shoulder. But Crow had already seen what he had seen and didn't even grace him with a reply.  
He took the maintenance hallways to be faster, but by the time he reached their apartment the area was already cleared. It was a mess, that much was clear and even without taking close stock of everything he knew that repairs would take a while.  
“You have about five minutes before we lock down the damaged area and cut off life support,” Crow told him over comms, just as he entered the apartment.  
“I'll try to be quick,” Andrew replied, hoping that the kids weren't blocked in.  
He was lucky. The kids had hidden themselves behind the overturned couch, and as soon as they heard Andrew's voice, Kenzie's and Carter's heads peeked around it.  
Andrew hurried over to them. “Are you all okay?”  
Carter nodded, while Kenzie reached out to him and he lifted her over to his side. He picked up Dylan next, while Carter scrambled over to them.  
“Here's what we're going to do,” he said. “We need to get out and things out there are a little dangerous. So you need to stay close and we'll go through the maintenance tunnels to your dad, okay?”  
Carter nodded bravely and took Kenzie's hand, while Andrew stripped off the top of his uniform and used it to secure Dylan to his chest.  
“We gotta be quick, because they're shutting down the systems in this area soon.”  
And with Carter's hand in his he lead the way towards the closest maintenance hatch.

It was a close call with the kids. On his own five minutes would have been plenty to get Andrew out of the damaged zone, but Carter and Kenzie were a lot smaller than he was, and they slowed him down considerably. It was lucky that he knew the Chicago as well as he did, because he wasn’t sure the whole thing would have worked out otherwise.  
As it was, he guided Kenzie and Carter along the quickest route he could find, even though that meant they would actually walk away from the med bay for now, instead of towards it. But there were worse things.

“I’m tracking your progress, and you’re looking decent,” Crow told him over comms. “I’ll try to give you a minute more, just in case, but I can’t promise anything.”  
“Thanks.” Andrew didn’t want to waste breath on saying more, they both knew that was all Crow could do for him. Safety protocols were very clear on what to do with damaged parts of the ship, and with any minute that passed there was more of a chance that someone tried to breach the security perimeter to get back to their living quarters and put themselves in danger.

They turned the last corner, before they reached the edge of what would soon be sealed off, and Andrew could see that the shields for the seal were already starting to power up. They had a minute tops to get past that.  
He looked down at Carter and Kenzie, who both looked a little tired, but determinedly trudged along, and swallowed. It would have to work.  
“Hey guys, I know you’re tired, but can you do me a favour?” he said, doing his best not to project his fear. “We’re gonna need to run a bit. Just until we’re past that console halfway down, okay? Can you do that for me?”  
Carter and Kenzie looked at him, but they both nodded and started running, Carter still holding his sister’s hand in his, Andrew following close behind.

~*~

Brent didn't have time to worry right after the crash. As soon as everyone recovered the first of the injured came in, and there was just too much to do to think of anything else. But when things died down a little and he was sure that the others could handle things, he remembered that he hadn't heard anything from the kids. That was when he started to worry. There was no use in worrying about Andrew, he was probably busy trying to fix what could be fixed, but the kids…  
He didn't even notice that he had started pacing until Tyler squeezed his shoulder in passing, but he couldn't stop himself. He needed to do something.  
He was almost desperate enough to ask Duncs to come and convince him that everything was fine and that the kids were probably safe with Liz, when the maintenance hatch across from the main door of the med bay opened and Andrew crawled out, his uniform top stripped off and tied around his torso. He didn't even see Brent, he was so focussed on turning and helping two small figures out of the hatch behind him.  
It was a testament to Brent's shock that it took him so long to process what he as seeing and recognise his own kids, all three of them he realised when Andrew stood, and that they were all safe.  
And right then when Andrew stood in front of him, Dylan in a makeshift sling around his torso, Carter and Kenzie beside him, that was when everything fell into place for Brent.  
He was in a daze, but things seemed so crystal clear, there was only one way he could think to react. And so he stepped forward, took Andrew's face in his hands and kissed him. He wouldn’t remember much about it later, just the press of Andrew's lips against his, the way he kissed Brent back almost as desperately, and how he held onto Brent’s biceps so hard that he left bruises.  
It didn't take long, and there was no time to dwell on it right after, but it was, and when they broke the kiss and Brent stepped away, just to sink down on one knee and wrap Carter and Kenzie in a hug, Brent saw enough of Andrew's face to see his smile.  
Brent quickly took Dylan from him, and Andrew got back into his uniform top.  
“I’d stay, but they probably need me down in engineering, so I better get going,” he said, and then he leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to Brent's lips. “We'll talk about this later,” he added, before he quickly hugged the kids and disappeared back through the maintenance hatch.

~*~

Andrew spent the next hours with the rest of engineering, frantically trying to assess the full damage and what they could repair on their own, or if they would have to make a stop for repairs.  
He didn't even realise how tired he was until Crow came to him and squeezed his shoulder. “You should go get some sleep. You're dead on your feet, you're no help to anyone like this. I'll take over here. Go home to your family.”  
Andrew just nodded and followed his advice.  
He didn't expect anyone to be awake when he reached their temporary quarters, but Brent must have been waiting for him because he stood up from the crate he was sitting on as soon as the door opened. It was a good thing that the place wasn't too spacious, because Andrew pretty much fell through the doorway and Brent had to catch him.  
“Come on,” he whispered. “We're gonna get you a shower and then we can go to sleep.”  
Andrew only nodded, bleary eyed. He could do a shower before bed.  
He hadn't exactly hoped for the first time he saw Brent naked to be while he was dead tired and just coming out of a crisis situation, but he was thankful that Brent held him up and helped him clean himself, because he wasn't sure if he would have been able to do it on his own.  
Brent was quick about it and he helped Andrew into something he could sleep in, before leading him to the bedroom.  
“The kids didn't want to sleep alone so we'll have to share,” he said before opening the door. They were already piled onto the bed, a tangle of limbs on one side of it, but Andrew was too tired to care much. He crawled in, arranging himself around them with Brent spooning him and immediately fell asleep.

~*~

Brent was a little confused when he woke up, because he was definitely snuggled up to someone and that was not how his mornings went these days. His brain took a few moments to catch up and then he remembered the crash and their temporary home and the fact that Andrew had walked right into the danger to get the kids out and how Brent himself had kissed him. At least he was fairly sure that last part had been real.  
He opened his eyes slowly, and sure enough, he was curled around Andrew.  
As if on cue, Andrew started stirring and Brent realised that it must be around their usual time to get up. When Andrew tried turning around, Brent tightened his arm around him.  
“You're not getting up yet. You have barely slept two hours,” he murmured into Andrew's hair.  
“But what if they need me?”  
Andrew did not sound awake at all, and Brent rolled his eyes.  
“Crow told me last night that I'm not allowed to let you work today. And I agree with him. You're gonna get the sleep you need now and then we're gonna see what we do with the rest of the day.”  
“But-”  
“I can give you more reasons, but I'd rather not. Just go back to sleep before the kids wake up.”  
“I...yeah okay.” Brent could feel Andrew sigh, but there was no more protest and his breathing evened out again. Brent closed his own eyes, his nose buried in Andrew's hair. This was good.

~*~

Andrew dimly remembered getting into bed and he had an even fuzzier memory of waking up and Brent telling him to go back to sleep. And sure enough, Brent was still wrapped around him and the kids were curled up on his other side when he woke up.  
He smiled and laced his fingers through Brent's where his hand was resting on Andrew's chest. It was nice to wake up like this, he thought. Even though he would have preferred if they didn't have to essentially destroy part of the Chicago to get here.  
Brent stirred behind him and tightened his arm for a second before he sighed, his breath brushing over Andrew's neck, followed by a quick kiss that sent a shiver running down his spine.  
Andrew turned in Brent's arms so he could look at him. His breath caught a little in his throat when he came face to face with Brent, because wow. He had seen Brent in the morning, it was hard not to these days, but he had never looked at him, and he had seriously missed out.  
Brent was already gorgeous, but the way his hair was all floofy and not as put together as it usually was, added a whole lot of gorgeousness. And the soft smile on his face was enough to make butterflies flutter around Andrew's stomach. Before he could second guess himself, Andrew leaned in and kissed him.  
Brent met him half way, and morning breath be damned, Andrew moved his lips slowly against Brent's. Brent tilted his head a little and responded with just as much enthusiasm as Andrew put into it. And Andrew had slept with Brent wrapped around him all night already, had breathed his scent all night, but lying here, kissing him made him savour it all a little more.  
If it hadn't been for the kids still lying behind him, Andrew wouldn't have been able to stop himself from going further. It was a good thing that the kids were here though, because it was probably not the best idea to jump into anything else before they had talked about everything.  
Apparently Brent thought the same, because he ended the kiss and after a last lingering peck onto Andrew's lips, he moved far enough away that neither of them could quite as easily lean in for more. They smiled at each other, and Andrew knew that whatever they would decide when they finally got to talk, they would be fine.

He could feel the kids move behind him and every thought of kissing Brent went out of his head. There were more important things right now. He turned back towards them and was soon enough met with three still slightly sleepy, but happy faces.  
It took Carter only a moment to wake up enough to scramble on top of Andrew instead of remaining beside him.  
“You're here,” he said excitedly. “You're fine.”  
Andrew hugged him to his chest. “Of course I'm fine,” he said. “I just had to help with making sure that all of you can be fine.”  
He moved his other arm so he could wrap it around Kenzie and Dylan, who were burrowing into his side.  
“You are fine, aren't you?” He asked.  
“Was scary,” Kenzie said, her voice small, and Andrew's arm tightened around her.  
“But it's better now, isn't it?” He asked her.  
She nodded. “You're back.”  
“I'm sure you were fine when it was just your dad. I know he made sure that you’re safe.”  
“No but you belong.” Kenzie looked like she wanted to say more, but she only looked at her brother, who took over.  
“You're part of the family. It's better when you're with us.”  
“Carter and Kenzie are right, you know?” Brent said. “You're part of this family. Of course we worry about you and of course we sleep better when you're there and we know you're okay.”  
Andrew smiled and looked down at the kids. “You know, I feel better when I know you're safe, too.” When he looked back up, Brent's eyes met his and he had to swallow, because he hadn't even realised it, but this was undeniably home.

~*~

They never talked about what was between them past that after all, and Brent felt surprisingly fine with it. Somehow it felt like they had said all that needed to be said.

Their routines didn't change much, they both did their work, hung out with their friends, spent as much time with the kids as they could. The only thing that really changed was that they kissed now and that Brent got to fall asleep and wake up with Andrew in his arms.  
The kids kept sleeping with them, not that either of them minded. Carter had remained relatively unaffected apart from a new found fascination with Andrew's work, and Dylan was young enough that she didn't quite understand what exactly had happened. But Kenzie still had nightmares and Brent and Andrew would occasionally have to wake her up and calm her down and reassure her that all was fine and that they all were safe.  
Engineering worked hard to get everything in order again so everyone could move back into their quarters.  
“We got lucky,” Andrew explained during a meeting of the senior staff. “We've checked the hull extensively and there's only some scratches. The secondary shields held up well. And the damage inside looks worse than it is. We need to rewire everything and make sure everything works properly, but mostly the damage is cosmetic. Crow’s heading up a team that's working out how we can do better with some of those things.”  
“Good,” Jonny said. “Any progress on the scanners? They should have shown that asteroid, and I want to know why they didn't.”  
“I have Abby and the Gallys looking into that, but they haven't found anything yet. They've got a lot of code to work through though.”  
“How's the situation in medical?”  
“Things have calmed down again. Price is still in with his concussion, and I've had to ban Hartman from leaving because he kept tweaking his knee. But other than that we're good,” Brent said. “Though I'm considering putting Subban on leave because he's getting a little overbearing.”  
Everyone chuckled at that, they all knew that PK could be a bit too much on the best of days, but he was even more so when Pricey was concerned.  
“You be the judge of that,” Jonny said with a wry smile. “If that's all, you should all go back to work. I don't want to keep you.”  
Chairs scraped across the floor and people shuffled out of the room, but Brent stayed where he was. There was still something he needed to talk to Jonny about.  
“You should talk to him,” he said when they were alone.  
Jonny raised an eyebrow at him. “Subban? I'm sure you got it covered.”  
“Don't be daft.” Brent rolled his eyes. “We both know I'm not talking about PK here.”  
“We've talked about this. I can't. Not with the chain of command and him technically being my subordinate. It wouldn't be right.”  
“Do you really think he cares?”  
Jonny sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “We're not you and Shawzy. I've got the ship to think of and the crew.”  
“Do you really think that or is that what you're telling yourself so you don't have to talk to him? Because really, Jonny, I have three kids that I didn't want to hurt, but sometimes you need to take the risk. There's no reason why it wouldn't work out.”  
Jonny was silent for a long moment, his eyes on the table in front of him. He looked sad when he looked back up. “He's so talented. I don't want to hold him back. He could have his own command, you know? I don't want to take that opportunity from him.”  
Brent gave him a long look, before he said, “I think you need to let him decide that for himself.”  
He got up and walked out, passing Kaner in the door.  
“He's all yours,” he told him, squeezing his shoulder in passing, while Kaner nodded at him. It was up to them now.

~*~

A few weeks later, engineering finally declared the repairs finished and everyone could move back into their quarters. The effect of the announcement was immediate, and the mood on the Chicago relaxed noticeably.  
But no one quite matched the enthusiasm of the kids, as Andrew led the way towards their apartment. The only reason why Carter wasn't running ahead was probably that he was prodding Andrew with the same questions he had been asking while repairs had still been going on.   
Andrew indulged him, secretly glad that he had introduced further childproofing protocols for all maintenance hatches on the Chicago, because at this rate it was only a question of time before Carter tried opening one.  
The questions died off as soon as they walked into their living room, because Carter tore off to check if everything was still in place in his bedroom. It served Andrew well enough, that was one kid distracted already.  
He exchanged a look with Brent, who gave him a nod, before he squatted down in front of Kenzie and asked, “Hey, can I show you something special?”  
She nodded, looking at him with big eyes. Andrew took her hand and led her to the bedroom she shared with Dylan.  
“You know how you get afraid at night because you think the bed might fall over?” He said softly. “I thought about how I could help you with that, and I built you a bed where you're completely safe.”  
He opened the door and watched as she saw her new bed for the first time.  
It was a simple construction, something Andrew had seen on one of the many planets they had been to. The people they had visited there lived in trees, and they had hung their beds from their branches. Kenzie's new bed worked with the same concept. Andrew had secured it to the ceiling with strong steel cables, and he had fashioned a roof so it turned into a cave-like nest if Kenzie wanted it to.  
“If the ship moves suddenly, the bed will just move with it and you're completely safe from it turning over and being buried underneath,” Andrew explained.  
Kenzie turned towards him, a big smile on her face. “It’s great!” she said, excitedly, throwing her arms around Andrew. “Thank you.”  
Andrew smiled as he hugged her back. “You're welcome, Cupcake.”

When Andrew came out of the girls’ bedroom after reading them their story that evening, Brent was waiting for him, leaning against the back of the couch. He pulled Andrew in as soon as he got close enough, and kissed him thorough and toe-curling and knee-weakening, until he was pretty much the only thing that still held Andrew up.  
When he finally ended the kiss, he only pulled back enough so he could look Andrew in the eyes and said, “I hope you know that you're brilliant.”  
Andrew laughed. “I try,” he said, before he leaned in for another kiss.  
He stepped away the next time they came both came up for breath, and he could see that Brent didn't want him to go, but really there were better places to do this than the living room. He walked over towards their bedroom, stopping in the doorway to turn back towards Brent.  
“Are you coming?” He asked, one eyebrow raised.  
Brent only laughed helplessly as he followed him. They still owed each other a wedding night.

 

 

 

 


End file.
